Shi Zuo Tea from Tea From Taiwan

I have received a 7g sample of this tea as a part of a sample pack (http://www.teafromtaiwan.com/shop/loose-tea/shi-zuo). It is a very nice tea, full of complex flavors and natural sweetness. My enjoyment was only pulled down by too much of a green and grassy notes and fast fading - the tea only lasted 5 infusions and then the taste deteriorated considerably.

dangert wrote:I have received a 7g sample of this tea as a part of a sample pack (http://www.teafromtaiwan.com/shop/loose-tea/shi-zuo). It is a very nice tea, full of complex flavors and natural sweetness. My enjoyment was only pulled down by too much of a green and grassy notes and fast fading - the tea only lasted 5 infusions and then the taste deteriorated considerably.

I haven't had this tea in a long time but the amount of infusions and intensity of taste can be controlled by the amount of leaf put into the pot. Last night, I put 4.5g into a 60ml gaiwan of Long Feng Xia and drank 12 brews of delightful tea. Try increasing your leaf amount and see if there is any difference. Make shorter brews, too!

Tead Off wrote:I haven't had this tea in a long time but the amount of infusions and intensity of taste can be controlled by the amount of leaf put into the pot. Last night, I put 4.5g into a 60ml gaiwan of Long Feng Xia and drank 12 brews of delightful tea. Try increasing your leaf amount and see if there is any difference. Make shorter brews, too!

I have used the whole sample (7g) in a 90ml gaiwan, which was even somewhat too much. The brews were quite short. But when the tea started fading, it was simply very dramatic change in taste.

Tead Off wrote:I haven't had this tea in a long time but the amount of infusions and intensity of taste can be controlled by the amount of leaf put into the pot. Last night, I put 4.5g into a 60ml gaiwan of Long Feng Xia and drank 12 brews of delightful tea. Try increasing your leaf amount and see if there is any difference. Make shorter brews, too!

I have used the whole sample (7g) in a 90ml gaiwan, which was even somewhat too much. The brews were quite short. But when the tea started fading, it was simply very dramatic change in taste.

Just went back into my tea notes and see that I have not had this tea. I was confusing this with another one from TFT. In my experience, I find Alishan teas to be less satisfying to me than Shan Lin Xi or Li shan teas and they fall off faster in flavor.

I think one thing the alishans really have going for them is a distinct light but very staying fruitiness (a different fruitiness then what a lot of people consider fruity in certain hmt from other places)

Some I have had are just so unique in that aspect, when just right it is so wonderful to drink with fruit

I haven't found any online vendors yet who sell something like this, i imagine it's hoarded pretty fast

churng wrote:I think one thing the alishans really have going for them is a distinct light but very staying fruitiness (a different fruitiness then what a lot of people consider fruity in certain hmt from other places)

I think you really have to try a lot of different gaoshan teas of high quality and good provenance before you'd be able to really tell the difference between the tea based on growing area alone. I think the varietal and processing (and maybe altitude) will probably be as important or more important than the exact growing reason.

Maybe others have more sensitive palates than I, but I think I'd be really hard pressed to identify specific gaoshan teas by area in a blind tasting. I'd rather have a great Alishan than a mediocre Lishan.

That said, I also have had some lightly oxidized Alishan teas that have a nice amount of light fruitiness.... best was the Alishan "traditional" that FLT had a couple years ago - maybe '09 spring?

Most of us don't drink teas in blind tastings and usually we have the opportunity to sit down with a tea and 'discover' it by repeated brewing. I know I shouldn't generalize because there are always exceptions to disprove them, however, IMO, I have found Alishan teas to be less satisfying to me than the others mentioned. There is nothing wrong with them by any means. I just find the other areas to be deeper in what I like in gaoshan teas. I'm sure there are Alishans that I haven't had that I would love but so far, I lean more to the others.

Last couple years of taiwanese gao shan have been disappointing in general IMO, although this last winter harvest had some gems if you look in the right places. Last mind blowingly good ali shan I had was in 2006 ( I still have a stash someplace... ).

bagua7 wrote:Can anyone recommend a vendor that sells nice Alishan? Not impressed with zen8tea and didn't really like Tea from Taiwan either...lol...I guess not having much luck with this particular oolong.

Oni wrote:I had Alishan this year from Tft, Houde, but neither was as good as a Li shan oolong, I think Long Feng Xia and Da Yu Ling are the best from TFT.

The Floating Leaves DYL from last year (IIRC winter 2009 as there was no spring 2010 harvest) was much better than the TFT. I was very meh last year on tea - enough that I didn't bother ordering anything until today... just running out of my old stashes and I had enough yan cha to get me through the winter.

With Da Yu Ling tea, I had a more roasted type from DTA from DT, it had a stronger flavour than the green ones, but either way a Da Yu Ling is the best of taiwanese teas, it is so smooth and oily, it is the most elegant taiwanese tea.